Giving Thanks!

Hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving yesterday, I know I did! My husband and I spent the morning at my mom's house, then the afternoon at his mom's house. Two wonderfully delicious meals... and we are stuffed. Being newlyweds, and finally having our own kitchen this year, we felt as though we should contribute to both dinners in some fashion or another. To house #1 we brought the Ultimate Chocolate Caramel Pecan Pie (YUM) and to house #2 we brought Senator Russel's Sweet Potato Casserole (jam-packed with brown sugar, butter, and all things delectably bad for you... double yum). Pictures didn't turn out great because I kept forgetting the camera amidst the amount of dirty dishes that piled up so rapidly making two small items.

Cook the sweet potatoes but don't cook too many like we did.
We'll be eating mashed sweet potatoes for a week!

Mashing time!

Add sugar, butter, vanilla, and some other yummy stuff... pour into baking dish

Top with more sugar, butter, and other yummy stuff like pecans...
Bake and serve hot! DELICIOUS!

This is pecans, sugar, and butter baked into a dish, a whole bag of caramels melted
and pour on-top (around this time is when I forgot the camera), then sprinkled
with even MORE pecans...awaiting its chocolate en robing.

Melt chocolate, powdered sugar, and vanilla until smooth and shiny

Pour on top and chill! Serve with whipped cream...

 Best part... we still have leftovers of both in our fridge (along with the excess mashed sweet potatoes if anyone would like some)...

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Sunrises

This is not one of my usual postings. No pictures, or crafts... although I have more to come as we prepare our house for Christmas! However, I am currently in a state of unrest. We are potentially moving away from the town I've lived in for almost twenty years and my husband is looking to go back to school to hopefully secure a position in a new field... heaps of apprehension.

That's why I began this blog to begin with. To actually force myself to DO something that I enjoy, and can be accountable for... in this case, crafts and cooking! Now don't get me wrong, God has given me an abundance of blessings in my life, starting with the most amazing husband you could ever ask for. I have the sweetest cats on the planet, and lovely little home, and a very supportive family... but my personal contentedness is unruly, and I can't seem to focus on the positives enough to enjoy them.

Thus enter what has become my favorite time of the week. I am an early bird. Always have been. My husband is too, we are two peas in a pod. I get up between 5:30 and 6:00 daily, yes, even on weekends. Most days I have to get up that early to get ready for work (blah.) or church, but Saturdays are mine. I like to wake up at my normal time, and sneak downstairs with my cats anxiously awaiting their breakfast. Coffee aroma quickly fills our small kitchen, and I cozy up on the couch, and watch the sunrise over the dense trees that lay just behind our house.

This week I've been off from school (PRAISE GOD!) and have gotten to enjoy my sunrise everyday (with exception of the rain yesterday... but we need rain so badly I didn't mind). I think God is giving me a small gift, letting me know it will all be alright, and as long as there is another sunrise, I know that my future will work itself out!

Signs of the Season

Everyone recognizes the beginning of the Christmas season in many symbolic ways. Noting the change in the weather, a decorated tree, the overwhelmingly annoying holiday commercials that continually pester you to buy the next best product for your loved one. For me, the Red Cup from Starbucks is certainly a symbol for me, my students getting more anxious for the holidays, and peppermint candy finally lining the shelves. Today I struck gold by finding Dove Peppermint Bark, and Cadbury chocolates. The bark is only available this time of the year, and while the Cadbury is also easily accessible at Easter, it is still something that isn't found everyday. I love the holidays!

Next New Designer?

I am very excited about my new sewing machine we got today. After re-threading the dang thing a few times, I finally got it right and can't wait to begin creating. It is the Project Runway Limited Edition (only because Walmart didn't have the one I actually wanted... although this one is proving to be even better!). I  can't wait to go to JoAnn's tomorrow... poor Daniel

Worth the Wait

At our wedding shower during the summer, we were given a waffle maker with some batter mix and cinnamon maple syrup, yum! We love waffles, especially my husband (all breakfast foods really...), and couldn't wait to make them on our new appliance (keep in mind we got married 4 months ago, and are just now getting around to using all our appliances... go figure). The only hitch was that they were yeast waffles and had to sit for about 2ish hours before making. We aren't patient people (OK fine, I'M not a patient person... Daniel is very patient, that's why he can put up with me!).

So last weekend we decided we were going to make our mix. Plus, we bought a pancake batter dispenser (because a ladle just doesn't cut it anymore), courtesy of Martha Stewart. While they were a wait for breakfast, they sure were delicious!

Melting butter and milk

Waiting for the yeast to activate in warm water

Batter sets for an hour and a half before adding eggs

Squeeze the batter out with our new batter bottle

Artistically add strawberries a la Daniel, and cinnamon syrup!

That's Amore´

Another culinary adventure had us making red pepper, spinach, and pepperoni calzones for dinner. The success landed this recipe a spot in the cookbook I am currently constructing (a compilation of recipes from both our childhoods and favorites recipes we have recently experimented with).

Chopped spinach and cheese mixture

Assemble on pre-made pizza dough, spinach mixture, roasted red peppers, pepperoni, and ricotta

Fold dough over, lay on cookie sheet rubbed with olive oil

We were able to make 4 nice sized calzones from the recipe

Bake in the oven, and serve with your favorite marinara sauce

The Kitchen is the Heart of the Home

Our good friends recently moved into a cute little rental house downtown, and invited us over for dinner. I thought our housewarming gift was adorable and so wanted to share!

We got a decorative oven mitt, and filled it with kitchen gadgets: an "egg"cellent spatula (wow I'm lame...), some red tongs (a must have while cooking), a Casino Ice Cube Tray (for him), and a Pink Palace Ice Cube Tray (for her). We tied a ribbon around it and voila! No wrapping needed!

Love is All Around

Our cats each have a little bed that sits on our living room chairs. One bed and one chair for each of them. And yet, Boots always wants to crawl into Ellie's bed, when she is still in it. Now, Ellie is the sweetest, most lovable cat whom I adore, but I have to admit, she is fat. Boots isn't a small cat either, but Ellie is just a big fatty. Daniel actually wanted to sit in one of our chairs one day (imagine, humans actually sitting in their own furniture!) And so he stacked the beds on top of each other. I bet you can guess where this is going....

Aren't they cute?! Somehow Boots was able to wiggle his paws into the bed, and then just sort of squashed the rest of himself against Ellie. Both of them were unhappy for a minute, but then they went to sleep and we could tell how much they love each other...

While I may be a LOT partial I think they are precious.

Snack Time!

While browsing my newest Internet obsession, Pinterest (goodbye Facebook, hello Pinterest!) I came across a simple recipe for pizza muffins, that are delicious and so easy. They have pepperoni, mozzarella, Parmesan, and Italian seasoning, and would be perfect party food! (although my husband and I can devour a whole batch while sitting on the couch... no stress of a party needed...).

Mix together... only one bowl!

We were able to get 20 muffins instead of the recommended 24.

Yummy, bite sized pizzas

Red Cup Love!

Around Christmas time (although now it starts the day after Halloween... umm hello, what about THANKSGIVING???) Anyway.... Starbucks unveils their Red Cups for the holiday season. This is truly a heart warming sight for me, as my friends have now discovered. Every year now, my good friend emails me when she sees her first red cup, as I do to her... even my colleagues are now figuring out how much excitement I contain when I see this small symbol of my favorite time of year.

 When I got home from school this week, my husband had a surprise Starbucks waiting for me, with a peppermint mocha (my choice drink of the winter months) My first red cup of the year... how lucky am I?!